The Call of Adventure
by Impressionsguy
Summary: A ragtag group of Autobot nobodies, a hothead Autobot space commander who's not all he cracks himself up to be, a human, and a maintenance bot embark on an adventure. Will hilarity ensue? Most likely.
1. Chapter 1: The Adventure of a Lifetime

**A/N: **My first ever Transformers fic was about an out of character emotionally unstable post G1 Movie Hound entitled Lost Mechs. I liked it at the time, now I see it as one of my worse fics. I've recently been struck with an idea on how to make the idea _much _better. This is not set in any particular universe.

* * *

Chapter 1: The Adventure of a Lifetime

Hound was always an interesting case. Everybody knew him in some way. Some new his as Optimus Prime's best scout, some knew him as that weirdo who longed to return to Earth, some knew him as one of the friendliest mechs on Cybertron, and some just knew him as "that green guy", that is until a mech by the name of Hoist came along, but that's not all that relevant to the story.

This Autobot wasn't quite sure what he was going to do after the war, in fact, he never really thought he'd see the end of the war. After all fighting was all he knew for nearly his whole life, so when Optimus addressed his higher ranking officers and soldiers one morning on their Earth stationed headquarters, it was a bit of a punch to the gut.

"Autobots..." Optimus spoke, in the same stoic, commanding tone he always had spoke in, his bodyguard, Ironhide, and his SIC, Prowl to each side of him. "Alpha Trion has declared that the state of high alert is no longer enforced." He stated. "We have been told to report home to Cybertron to our own cities and families for some well earned rest." For years the Autobots had been fighting the Decepticons, and about fifty earth years ago they stationed a team of thirty two Autobots on Earth. Coincidentally that was right around when the tide started to turn in their favor, and now, the war had been declared finished after word had spread that Megatron and his top soldiers had been imprisoned, thanks to Optimus and his crew.

"Omega Supreme is on his way from Cybertron. He'll be picking us up tomorrow morning." Prowl stated. "For the rest of the day, we need to focus on making this base as if nobot had ever resided here." That was a little cold Hound thought, they had lived in this base for fifty years, even for a Cybertronian that was a significant amount of time, and now they just had to up and pack like nothing ever happened here? This was a thought that would stay with the scout for the rest of the day.

"I tell ya, Hound, the sooner we're off this dumb rock the better." Hound's assigned roommate, an orange and blue Convoy framed minibot named Huffer remarked as he packed what he had into a small crate. Hound didn't reply, which was rather peculiar since Hound usually loved some friendly conversation, even with a mech who had a disposition like Huffer. Huffer could be a little caught up with himself now and then, but he could read a room. "I've been getting into that online dating stuff, met a nice femme on a chat room, thinking I'll take her out when we get back to Cybertron." He made conversation.

"That's nice." Hound replied.

"I can't say I pity Powerglide right now, sure it sucks he's gotta leave his lady friend behind, but he was dumb enough to get with an organic in the first place, so he brought it on himself." Huffer attempted to continue conversation.

"Powerglide and Seaspray are in the same boat actually." Hound stated. "Seaspray met an organic on another world... Alana is her name, I believe."

"Cripes." Huffer scoffed. "I always thought being chummy with organics was weird enough." He remarked, he could tell that even though he got Hound to form a full sentence, he wasn't getting anywhere with him. "I'm gonna go see what Gears is up to, see ya later." The little orange mech said as he slowly stepped out of the room. Hound sighed and shuffled down to the common area of the base. He strode over to the bar where two of his best friends were, one of them behind the bar, the other at the bar.

"You should be packing." The mech behind the bar said. He was a sleek blue and white mech with yellow optics, rare for an Autobot. He sported an uncharacteristic missile launcher on his shoulder and his helm was shaped like a snow globe that got sliced in two.

"You should be packing too, Raj." Hound replied.

"I am," Raj, or Mirage said as he lifted up a crate full of empty cubes. "_Visages _is officially closing." He said, flicking off the neon sign behind him before taking it off the wall.

"Now ain't this just the saddest day in Cybertronian history." Hound's other close friend, a big black and gray Hylux build mech with a gleaming blue visor remarked. "Now where am I gonna drink?" He bemoaned.

"It's one day, Trailbreaker," Mirage couldn't help but chuckle. "There's a million bars on Cybertron."

"Yeah, but nobody knows how to make a White Camien as good as you do, Raj." Trailbreaker shrugged.

"Hey mechs, we drinking?" A new voice to the conversation said, stepping forward and taking a place at the bar, this mech was a Tranzam frame minibot with a gray blocky head and body with red arms and legs.

"I suppose we are now, Windcharger." Mirage said with an annoyed tone, fishing four cubes out of the crate and filling them. "There's no need for you all to he acting so solemn, it's not like we're all parting ways when we get to Cybertron, we all grew up in the same city."

"It's gonna be different, Raj. You know that." Trailbreaker said, sipping his cube. "Sure, we've got each other, but we're a servo without it's ring digit." He said, making a sloppy analogy of their unit. See, a few years back there was a fifth member of their clan. A member that wouldn't be going home with them.

"Hey, Trails," Windcharger set a servo on Trailbreaker's arm. "It'll be alright."

"Windcharger is right. It'll all be okay, he might be gone, but we'll remember him." Hound raised his cube. "He was a good mech, a good fighter, but above all, a great friend." Hound toasted.

"Here here." Trailbreaker, Mirage, and Windcharger toasted their fallen friend.

"Now, you all drink up, I still have my own room to pack after all." Mirage said as he finished his cube and started to clean it.

"Alright, alright." Trailbreaker shook his helm fondly as he downed his cube. "C'mon Windy. Let's pack up." He pet his smaller friend's helm, knowing it irritated the smaller mech. He laughed heartily as he walked off.

"Anybot else wanna sit next to him on the way home?" Windchrager huffed as he got up and followed Trailbreaker. Hound and Mirage shook their helms and sighed fondly watching the two bicker as they went back to their rooms.

"Must be nice not having to share a room with Huffer after today." Mirage made conversation.

"I suppose that's an upside." Hound nodded. "Say, you gonna open up _Visages _again when we get home?" He asked.

"I just may." Mirage grinned slyly. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"I suppose I will." Hound nodded with a little grin.

Fifteen years later

_Where everybody knows your na-a-ame._" Hound, Mirage, Trailbreaker, and Windcharger sang along in the reopened _Visages _one evening.

"Bom bom bom!" Trailbreaker exclaimed.

"_And they're always glad you ca-a-ame_!" They sang along, and so forth until the song concluded, and they sat back as the song faded into the four friends laughing and chatting.

"So how was Gobotron?" Trailbreaker asked Windchrager, who had just returned from vacation. "I've always wanted to visit there."

"It was alright, kinda reminded me of the old days here on Cybertron." Windcharger said. "Not necessarily in a good way, since it reminded me of the days leading up to the war."

"Oh boy..." Hound droned, shaking his helm.

"Well, I remember the fat load of good they were helping us with our war. You certainly won't see me enlisting." Mirage stated. "I have a cousin who lives on Gobotron though, hopefully she'll be alright."

"Mm." Hound nodded. "Any of you fellas hear from Optimus or any of the higher ups lately?" He asked.

"Last I heard Prowl was the new commissioner for the IPD." Trailbreaker said. "Saw Bumblebee the other day, out on a date with a little blue bot. His frame type."

"Glyph?" Windcharger sputtered. "That's his sister!"

"Well maybe it wasn't a date." Trailbreaker shrugged. "Course then I told a couple other folks it was a date... uh oh."

"I see you haven't changed, Trails." Mirage remarked. "Think at least a little before you talk, for Primus' sake, mech."

"I only told Bluestreak and Blaster, those guys never talk to anyone." Trailbreaker reasoned.

"All they ever do is talk, Trailbreaker." Mirage deadpanned. "Jazz strode in here last week."

"You guys talk?" Hound asked.

"No." Mirage shook his helm. "Why would we? We were never exactly chummy."

"You two were more chummy than you and Cliffjunper ever were." Windcharger snickered.

"Ugh, don't remind me of that little blowhard." Mirage groaned. "What are we doing talking like this? We aren't old mechs like Ironhide or Kup, c'mon fellas, we're young. We've gotta start acting like it again."

"What's there to do? A peaceful Cybertron is a boring Cybertron, I hate to say it." Trailbreaker replied.

"Then who said it has to be Cybertron?" Mirage asked. "They still send ships out to do patrol the Cybersystem and beyond, we could join one of those."

"Hey, that's... actually a pretty good idea." Hound grinned.

"I dunno, going out into deep space with no high grade..." Trailbreaker shrugged.

"We'll make a pitstop on Earth and move out the old bar from the base into the ship, those shuttles have the room for it." Mirage offered.

"Adventure and high grade? Count me in!" Trailbreaker grinned.

"So we're in agreement," Hound said. "Let's go out to enlist." He grinned, leading the four to the shuttle docks. However, once they got there, they couldn't help but be met with a slight aura of disappointment.

"Do you have _any _positions left?" Mirage asked the mech at the recruitment office, a stout blue and white Convoy build minibot.

"C'mon Pipes, you gotta have something." Windcharger insisted.

"I got one thing," Pipes nodded. "But you're not gonna like it." He warned.

"We'll take that Rodimus guy if it means getting up to an adventure." Hound assured Pipes.

"Heh, well it ain't Rodimus." Pipes chuckled. "It's worse." He mumbled.

The four friends sat on a bench, waiting for their ship to land with their new captain. The last captain available, they were sure he couldn't be that bad, after all he was _made _captain. But when that ship landed and the ramp opened, what they saw proved Pipes' statement. The captain stepped out, an exceptionally tall Transport build mech with a garish white, gold, red, and blue color scheme, his chest sported a blue flame decal with his Autobot symbol centered. This was Thunder Clash.

"Aha! You must be my crew." Thunder Clash remarked. "Well, mechs, are you ready to set out on the adventure of a lifetime? Helmed by the bravest, most skilled, vigilant, and most devilishly handsome captain in the Cybersystem?"

"Oh boy." Hound huffed.

The crew situated themselves in Thunder Clash's ship, titled the SS Supercomet. The four seated themselves in various positions as the ship took off.

"Where to mechs? Where does this grand exploit begin?" Thunder Clash asked.

"We figured we'd stop at our old Earth base, pick a few things up before the adventure begins." Trailbreaker spoke up.

"Earth? That's one of those organic places. Yuck." Thunder Clash gagged. "I suppose we could make a pit stop." He shrugged. "We certainly won't be getting comfortable there."

"Wasn't the plan." Hound murmured. "Alright mechs, Earth it is."

"It'll be nice to take a look around the old base again, I think the old holochess table is still there." Windcharger remarked. "Hey, did we ever pack his old things?"

"I think they're still there." Mirage answered.

"Who's old things?" Thunder Clash asked.

"An old friend." Hound answered. "An old friend that never came home with us."

"Ah yes, Treadsmoke." Thunder Clash stated. "The only member of Squadron Terraria to be KIA." He elaborated. That was the first time that name had been spoken (around Hound and his gang anyway) in years, and it stung as bad as they worried it would.

"Hey, it's okay." Hound assured Trailbreaker, who's face did droop in visible sadness in response. "We were gonna have to hear that name eventually."

"Good mech, good fighter, great friend. Remember?" Mirage nodded.

"Here here." Trailbreaker nodded. However, what Thunder Clash, Trailbreaker, Hound, or any other Autobot didn't know was this Treadsmoke wasn't quite as dead as they all seemed to think.

* * *

"C'mon Cadie, sing it loud and sing it proud!" A voice coming from the radio of a big blue van that was covered in amature spray paint chanted as a teenage human sang along to "I'm On My Way" by The Proclaimers.

"You were right," Cadie, a teenage human female with an exceptionally tall and slender build with raven black hair and raven black nearly everything from the neck down clothing wise remarked during an instrumental break. "This is a better road trip song than '500 Miles'."

"Yet it's so much less well known. It's a crime, really." The voice in the radio remarked as the truck parked outside what looked like an abandoned customs shop. "Alright, get out, I've gotta stretch my legs after all that time on the road." He instructed, the girl jumped out and the van transformed into his Cybertronian robot mode, he was a Hylux build, like Trailbreaker, only instead of black he was a blue color, although to contrast his helm and pelvic armour was a bright red. Instead of a boxy flat top helm like Trailbreaker, he had a curvy dome that evoked a human afro that was split down the middle with a tall arch like a Roman soldier's helmet.

"Thanks for driving me to Atlantic City for my birthday, Tread. I had a great time." Cadie looked up at the robot as he pulled open the garage door.

"I'm glad you had fun, Cadie." Tread, or Treadsmoke rather, said as he stepped inside and flicked on the lights. "I have one more thing though." He said, moseying over to the fridge and opening the freezer door carefully. "Set this out to thaw a bit." He hummed, carefully pulling the birthday cake out and setting it on a makeshift table.

"Tread, you didn't have to do that." Cadie remarked, looking at the cake. Her response was partially in response to the kindness of the gesture and the mech's track record for cooking human foods.

"I followed the recipe this time, don't worry." Treadsmoke replied, sitting down on a monster truck tire he used as a chair. "I got you a little something too." He said, sliding a shoebox across the table to her, wrapped up in a bow. Cadie opened the box and looked inside, smiling immediately at what she saw inside.

"What are all these?" She asked, taking out things that to anyone but Cadie and Treadsmoke would be seen as garbage.

"Little things here and there from over the years." He said modestly. "Speeding tickets, parking tickets, a ticket stub from that drive-in flick we got kicked out of."

"You mean the one _you _got us kicked out from when you stepped on that Volkswagen." Cadie mentioned with a little grin.

"It was dark!" Tread exclaimed. "Take everything out, I want you to see what's under it." He said excitedly. She complied and took the other knick knacks and trinkets out to see a framed picture of her and Treadsmoke.

"From our trip to Niagra Falls." She smiled widely, reminiscing. "That was years ago..."

"Just a month after we met if I remember correctly." Tread nodded, slicing a large piece off the cake and giving it to her. "Happy big 1 - 9, Cadie." He smiled widely.

"Thanks, Treadsmoke." She smiled up at him before she started to eat. "Wow, I have to admit, this is actually quite good." She remarked. "Good job, big guy." She said, stuffing cake into her mouth.

"Told you I'd followed the recipe." The mech chuckled, getting up from where he sat and moving over to the car lift that he recharged on each night. "This bot's gonna get a goodnight's rest." He yawned as he laid back on the lift.

"Wait," Cadie said, scurrying over to the lift. "You think you could tell me a story?" She asked.

"You're a little old for bedtime stories, don't you think?" He arched an optic ridge, looking down to her.

"I don't want a bedtime story," she rolled her eyes. "You're a robot from another planet who fought in an intergalactic war, I wanna know more about it, mech." She remarked. Cadie always liked his stories of the war, not only was Treadsmoke a hilarious story teller, but his unique ability allowed him to become the bots in his story he was referring to, she knew practically everyone on his old team by now.

"Alright alright," Tread chuckled. "Uhh... I ever tell you about the time me and my buddies saved Alpha Trion from a smoldering Hall of Records?" He asked.

"Yeah, you threw out your spinal piston lifting that pillar off of that mech." Cadie nodded. "It's okay, you can tell it again."

"Alright," he nodded, sitting up and lifting his human friend up to sit beside him. "It was one of our last days on Cybertron, a militia group of Decepticons called Combaticons had waged an assault on the Autobot capital of Cybertron..." He shifted into the story.

After the story was over, Cadie resided to her bed, a relatively clean mattress with a beanbag chair for a pillow and a heavy comforter, she shifted a little before falling asleep. Treadsmoke sighed quietly as he gazed at her. His best friend in the whole world, his only friend that he knew for sure he still had.

Treadsmoke had been living on Earth for twelve years now ever since his accidental reactivation. He had been a former member of Optimus Prime's team for their stay on Earth, but one day, during battle with the Decepticons, he had been critically wounded and fell into stasis trapped in his vehicle mode. Years after the Autobots left for Cybertron he was found by a mechanic and brought into his garage, to be eventually scrapped for parts. Then, one day, when the mechanic started to strip the van, he accidentally triggered his reactivation, effectively ending his stasis, Treadsmoke was reborn and all alone in the world.

Treadsmoke tried desparetly to contact his fellow Autobots, but his communicator was still damaged, one of the few wounds that didn't heal with time in stasis. Then one day, after eight years of wandering on his lonesome, he and Cadie crossed paths, she was alone, just like him. He felt for her, he couldn't in his right mind leave her, it was a scary enough world to be lost in as a Cybertronian let alone a little adolescent human. Since that day, the two had become the best of friends. He vowed to himself to always be there for her to protect her, and she needed the help, what with her habit of getting into trouble. Even though part of him still longed to see his old friends again, just for some assurance as to what happened to them at the very least. As he thought of Cadie and then thought of his old friends, a thought occurred to him. He should show her their old base! She'd love that! He grinned, thrilled with the idea that he'd present to her the next morning.

* * *

"So, I was thinking." Treadsmoke said to Cadie, who sat inside his van mode eating her breakfast while they sat parked outside a McDanny's the following morning. Now I know what you're thinking, that's not a healthy everyday breakfast, to be fair, they only did this Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, any other day they'd go to International House of Breakfast.

"That's dangerous." Cadie joked, bits of hasbrown flying out of her mouth as she spoke and ate simultainiously.

"That gunk you spew when you talk with your mouth full is a nightmare to clean out, by the way." Treadsmoke interjected. "But I was thinking it was time I showed you someplace pretty special. I was thinking we take a trip Northwest to Oregon."

"What's so special in Oregon?" Cadie asked.

"Oh... just... oh I dunno, my old base." Tread told her. She immediately jumped with excitement, spilling her coffee all over his interior. "OW!" He remarked. "Hot! Hot! Hot!"

"Sorry!" Cadie winced, wiping the spill as best as she could with her napkins. "Tread, you really want to take me to see your old base?" She asked.

"If you want, Cadie." He replied. "Do you?"

"You know it Treads!" She squealed, hugging his steering wheel, that being the only thing about him she could really hug at the moment. "When are we heading out?"

"We'll be on our way as soon as we stop at a car wash, and I mean one with interior cleaning too." He said, starting up his engine and pulling out of the parking lot.

* * *

"If I remember correctly... the passcode is... 1,7,9... 8,4." Treadsmoke said, pressing numbers on he keypad. The doors swung open to reveal the long dormant base. "Lights are off and nobot is home." He mumbled as he and Cadie stepped inside, he flipped a switch and turned the lights on, lighting up the large base.

"Wow..." Cadie breathed, taken aback with the giant scale of the base. "This place is enormous..."

"It gets cramped when you have thirty two packed in here, lemme tell you." Treadsmoke replied as they walked through the base. "Looks like whenever they went, they packed the place up." He remarked. "I wonder if Brawn's old lob ball is kicking around." He thought out loud, when the pair strode into the commons, Tread was very happy to see that for the most part it was still intact, the old monitor the crew would bicker and argue over, the old holochess table, even Mirage's bar!

"Wow!" Cadie exclaimed, running over to the monitor and activating it. "This is so cool!" She beamed, looking at security cameras, old inboxes, and other features. Treadsmoke meanwhile made his way to the bar.

"Should be a little left." He hummed, pressing a tap and holding an empty cube to it. "Bingo." He grinned as it started to fill. He sipped the drink and gagged, he spat flakes of lead out of his mouth that had made their way into the energon reservoir.

"Hey, Tread?" Cadie asked.

"Mm?" He asked, draining the cube down a disposal drain.

"What's this?" She asked, pointing to a picture on the screen of Treadsmoke accompanied by a brief description, she had stumbled across the crew manifest.

"That's my profile on the manifest." He answered. "Let's see now, Iacon born and raised, Hylux frame... Outlier... waitasec..." He arched a brow. "I'm dead!?"

"You're dead?" Cadie asked.

"According to this I am!" He exclaimed. "Primus..." He flipped through the manifest, checking to make sure his friends were still okay. They were, fortunately. But the realization that according to his old crew he was dead was strange.

"Wow..." He murmured. "What happened to everyone?" He asked himself, catching himself up on every inbox and log since he had disappeared. "They went back to Cybertron three years before I even woke up." He remarked. "They never even looked for me I bet." He murmured.

"Tread..." Cadie set a hand on Treadsmoke's servo. "I'm sorry." She said sincerely.

"For what?" He asked. "This? Cadie, don't worry about it. I'm happy with how my life is now. Me and you. If they had of found me we never would have met, and I wouldn't give these past four years with you up for anything. I promise." He smiled. Cadie smiled widely and climbed up Tread's arm, sitting down on his shoulder.

"You mean a whole lot to me, you know?" Cadie asked, leaning on his helm.

"You mean a lot to me too, Cadie." Treadsmoke nodded. "Oh! My buddy Wheeljack made some complialtions of funny security footage, I'll find them for you. You can watch those while I take a quick nap, how's that sound?" He asked.

"Sounds perfect, Treads." Cadie grinned, hugging his helm.

* * *

"I told you it was 17984, not 91784." Mirage said to Trailbreaker as the crew entered the base to grab what they were looking for. "Who left the lights on?" He remarked.

"Good thing this place runs on solar." Hound murmured. "Do you guys hear something?" He could hear something from the commons room, the monitor was on and playing, and someone was laughing.

"There's been a break in!" Thunder Clash deduced. "Get behind me, mechs. This could get hostile." He cocked his blaster and stepped toward the commons room, the four mechs behind him. He hummed as he got closer, his own theme music. Hound and Mirage rolled their optics in reply to how ridiculous this mech was.

"Alright, put your servos where I can see them!" Thunder Clash barked before jumping through the door way, blaster aimed at the perpetrator, but neither Thunder Clash or the organic perpetrator were quite ready for the other...


	2. Chapter 2: Reunion

**A/N: **This fic is set in a bastardized G1 type continuity, so when you picture character designs they'd look G1 ish, and they'll act like their G1 selves unless otherwise mentioned, but there's also potential for characters who aren't necessarily G1 to show up.

Why did I spell Cadie the way I did? I wanted her to have a certain spunk to her, and I figured an alternate spelling of the usual Katie would help convey that.

* * *

Chapter 2: Reunion

"Alright, put your servos where I can see them!" Cadie suddenly heard behind the doorway before a big, vibrantly colored robot leaped out and aimed his blaster directly at her, his facial expression did change to fear however when he saw that she was an organic, but that wasn't enough to take the overwhelming sense of fear Cadie felt away.

Cadie screamed in horror at the sight of Thunder Clash aiming his weapon at her, this was only met with Thunder Clash screaming in horror at the sight of an actual organic creature. Hound, Mirage, Trailbreaker, and Windcharger didn't have time to be unimpressed by their 'captain', they were too busy looking at Treadsmoke, still miraculously fast asleep, though he still looked dead, he was a deep sleeper.

"Step... away... from the Autobot..." Thunder Clash quivered. "But no closer to me! Got it!?"

"Who are you!?" Cadie asked, not daring to move an inch from where she sat.

"I am Thunder Clash, Autobot Star Commander of the SS Supercomet, remove yourself from that corpse, now!" Thunder Clash barked, still shaking.

"Corpse?" Cadie tilted her head.

"Thunder Clash, that's a _human_, quit freaking out." Mirage rolled his optics.

"Are you kidding? She's probably the one who killed him! Don't you know organics spew a toxic corrosive slime?" Thunder Clash jittered, this gave Cadie an idea. She stood up and hopped down, stepping closer to Thunder Clash.

"That's right, that mech _is _my kill," Cadie grinned sadistically as she stepped closer to the cowering Autobot. "And I'll get you next, with my toxic corrosive slime!" She laughed, getting closer and closer to the Autobot that was frozen with fear. The four Autobots who actually spent time around humans weren't sure what to think, should they find this comical? Roll their optics at the clear incompetence of their new captain? Or be asking a million questions as to how this human got a hold of their friend? Before Cadie could take her prank any further, Treadsmoke shifted and yawned loudly.

"Cadie, could'ya turn the volume down a bit, that screaming is really loud..." Treadsmoke murmured, slurring his words tiredly.

"Treadsmoke?" Windcharger asked.

"Windy?" Treadsmoke murmured, sitting up and opening his optics. "What in the..." He rubbed his optics. "Guys!" He exclaimed, jumping up to his pedes.

"Treadsmoke!" His friends exclaimed, running over to him and embracing him.

"Tread, you're alive!" Hound exclaimed.

"We thought you were a goner!" Trailbreaker remarked.

"What, are you kidding? It takes more than being pinned down by three Insecticons, two Seekers, Bliztwing, and all of Soundwave's minions to kill me." Treadsmoke laughed. "They got damn near close to it though." He nodded.

"Treadsmoke!" Thunder Clash remarked. "Fear not, we're here to rescue from the clutches of this evil, wicked, hideous organic."

"Hideous? Hey!" Cadie grimaced.

"Rescue?" Treadsmoke asked, tilting his helm quizzically. "Cadie, what are you doing?" he arched his brow. "C'mon, don't scare the big doofus."

"Yes, please, heed the call of your master, organic pet." Thunder Clash begged.

"I am _NOT_ his pet!" Cadie barked, kicking Thunder Clash's pede before stomping over to Treadsmoke. "I don't know who that guy is, but I hate him." She muttered to Treadsmoke.

"Welcome to the club, sis." Mirage murmured to the human.

"Treadsmoke, what's going on?" Hound asked. "What are you doing here? Who is she?"

"I suppose you're all due a proper introduction and explanation." Treadsmoke nodded. "First and foremost, Hound, Mirage, Trailbreaker, Windcharger, meet Cadie. She's a good friend of mine." he explained. "That's an understatement, really, she's been my loyal companion, partner in crime, and overall best friend for the past four years."

"Hi." Cadie smiled, changing her tune from her interaction with Thunder Clash completely. "Treads has told me all about you guys, all good things." She assured them.

"I found her, no, she found me... we found each other after wandering around Earth all alone for eight years," Treadsmoke explained. "See, about two years after you all went back to Cybertron, I woke up from a comatose state, I tried to contact somebot, anybot, but my communicator was still busted, I had no clue what had become of you all until just today when I decided we'd revisit the old base." He explained. "So, what brings you all here?" He asked.

"We're grabbing some things from Mirage's bar because we're heading out on an adventure." Trailbreaker grinned. "Say, I've got an idea, you should come with us Treads!"

"Well, I'd love to." Treadsmoke grinned.

"An adventure in space? Count me in!" Cadie jumped for joy, this sent a chill of sudden realization down Treadsmoke's spinal piston, especially when he saw the looks on the faces of his old friends. He knew they were all thinking the same thing. Him, a war seasoned robot braving whatever this adventure had to offer was one thing, him bringing along Cadie, who could hold her own in most Earthly confrontations, but had no protective shell, abilities, or anything else to protect her on this journey was another thing completely.

"Cades..." Treadsmoke murmured quietly. "I don't know if that's a good idea." He said sorrowfully.

"What?" Cadie asked. "Why not? Treads, I'm tough, you know that." She insisted.

"Yeah, but this is outer space we're talking about." Treadsmoke sat her down. "Primus only knows what could be out there, and if something ever happened to you, I'd never be able to forgive myself for letting that happen." He explained.

"So this is it?" Cadie asked. "You're just going to abandon me to go fly off with the mechs who left you here in the first place?" She asked, tears forming up in her eyes.

"I never said that." Treadsmoke replied. "We just need to weigh our options here."

"Fine." Cadie huffed, crossing her arms. "Sorry I'd be impeding on your guys trip." She muttered. Did Treadsmoke feel guilty for making her feel this way? Immensely, but he'd rather stay on Earth if it meant she was protected rather than endanger her life in any way.

"Maybe we should shack up here for the night." Hound suggested. "We can maybe talk things over, plan out how this is all going to work."

"That sounds like a mighty fine idea." Trailbreaker nodded.

"Then that is what we shall do, providing the earthling is kept watch of, who knows what that little beast is capable of?" Thunder Clash shuddered.

"That's right, cause I'm some sort of scraplet or something." Cadie rolled her eyes.

"How much about us did you teach her, Tread?" Windcharger asked, marveling that this little human who would have only been a toddler when the Cybertronian race even inhabited Earth knew so much about Cybertronian life.

"She's practically a little Teletraan II. That's how much." Treadsmoke smiled proudly, looking fondly at the human even though she was still sore with him.

* * *

"Hold. Still." Mirage huffed as Treadsmoke winced while he worked on his communicator that night, Cadie had long since gone to bed, leaving it just the mechs up and about.

"I can't help it, you keep poking a sensitive wire!" Treadsmoke grumbled. "You're no Ratchet, lemme tell you."

"Maybe not, but I still know what wires to snip if I want you to shut up... permanently." Mirage replied. "There, test it out." He instructed, flipping the latch on Treadsmoke's wrist closed.

/Yeah, breaker one-nine, this here's the rubber duck, you got a copy on me, pig-pen, c'mon?/ Treadsmoke spoke through the comm, dialing Trailbreaker, who was on the other side of the base.

/Pardon?/ Trailbreaker commed back.

/Convoy! Don't you remember that song? You used to play it non stop whenever we were thirty-two strong and driving somewhere./ Treadsmoke replied. /Cripes mech, lay off the nightmare fuel, it's affecting your memory circuits./ He ended the call. "Thanks Doc Raj, Works like a dream."

"Don't call me 'Doc Raj', I might be happy to see you alive and well, but I still hate your nicknames." Mirage replied crossly.

"Whatever you say, Raj Mahal." Treadsmoke chuckled, sitting down on the large concrete couch with Hound. "So, you got stuck with Huffer after I was marked offline? Harsh." He made conversation with Hound.

"It wasn't so bad, Huffer was surprisingly sympathetic when it all happened," Hound stated. "And then when he realized I was better adjusted he went back into the same old Huffer." He chuckled a bit, reminiscing. "Cadie seems nice." He remarked.

"Hound, Cadie is one of the best things that's ever happened to me." Treadsmoke nodded with a big smile on his face that lowered into a look of slight sadness. "Which is why you have to understand my reluctance when it comes to joining you guys on this adventure. What kind of friend would I be if I abandoned her?" He asked. "And then if I brought her along... Hound you know as well as any other bot what all is out there, I... I just can't risk putting her in danger." He sighed. Hound looked at his friend and set a servo on his shoulder, smiling proudly.

"Treadsmoke," he shook his helm fondly with a proud grin on his face. "You are certainly not the mech I thought was dead all that time ago."

"No, he's a family man now." Windcharger chuckled.

"Our Treadsmoke, now a single sire of one human femme." Mirage nodded.

"Cadie is my friend, not my sparkling, c'mon guys." Treadsmoke insisted, rolling his optics at Mirage's remark.

"Treads, don't take it like a bad thing, it's great that you have someone in your life that you care this much about, you've grown a lot as a mech, I can tell." Hound assured him. "She's so lucky to have you. And you're pretty darn lucky to have her."

"Yeah, pity we can't bring her along." Mirage nodded. "I feel she and all of us would get along swimmingly."

"Except for Thunder Clash." Windcharger snorted a laugh.

"Please, we're going to ditch Thunder Clash at the nearest refueling station." Mirage rolled his optics. "If only Cadie were like Trailbreaker, had her own little protective shield around her for whenever she needed it." He mentioned.

"Like her own suit of armor." Hound nodded. "Wait a second..." Hound thought to himself.

"What?" Treadsmoke asked. "What is it?"

"I remember whenever I was in to see Wheeljack about my hologram projector acting up, he'd chat about his latest gadgets and gizmos as he worked." Hound murmured. "And one time, he was particularly excited about something he was working on, it was a prototype for a suit he'd be producing for the human military so they'd stand a better chance against the Decepticons." He explained. "An Exo-Suit, he called it." Hound recalled. "C'mon, Wheeljack left a bunch of his old inventions here, lets see if that's one of them!" He grinned, beckoning his friends to follow him. When they arrived in Wheeljack's workshop, the place was almost as if Wheeljack had never left it was so full, cluttered too. Surely if it was there, they'd be looking quite a while for it. What they didn't know was while they were looking, somebot was watching them.

"Any idea what this thing looked like?" Treadsmoke asked as he opened old lockers and boxes for any trace or clue.

"White if I remember correctly, stands about a foot taller than an average human, with a big clear bubble for the head." Hound explained.

"How do you know he never gave it to the military?" Mirage asked.

"Because he was telling me about it the day before the final fight against the Decepticons before Alpha Trion declared the war finished." Hound explained. "He never had reason to produce it."

"Can't see Wheeljack having any reason to bring it back to Cybertron." Windcharger nodded, shuffling around inventions galore.

"What are you four doing!?" A voice suddenly piped up from behind and below the mechs, this startled them all, but Treadsmoke showed how startled he was the most woty a squeal and jump.

"Agh! What are you?" Treadsmoke squealed, aiming a blaster at the source of the noise. The source moved out from where it hid, a small orange robot with a set of wheels rather than legs and claws for servos.

"My name is Fixit, Wheeljack built me to assist in his inventions, keep the place organized, and keep unwanted pests like yourselves out when he wasn't around. What are you doing in my creator's laboratory?" The little minicon replied.

"We're looking for one of his inventions." Hound replied.

"Well, you've found one, now go away. You've messed this place up enough as it is, Wheeljack isn't going to like coming home to his lab in this... disarray you've left it in!" Fixit huffed, already moving crates back to where they originally were.

"Hey, tiny, it was in disarray when we got here." Treadsmoke remarked. "Wheeljack was never exactly known for his organization abilities."

"According to everybot else, no. But he had a very particular way of setting things up, and now you've come in and wrecked it!" Fixit bemoaned.

"Fixit, we're looking for an invention called the Exo-Suit, have you seen it?" Windcharger asked.

"Yes, I have, and I know it's precise location, but that is information I'm not telling you." Fixit crossed his arms. "As you four are not Wheeljack. Now, leave." He ordered.

"I have half a mind to punt you like a football right here, right now." Treadsmoke snarled as he and the four left the workshop. "Well, that went well." He said sarcastically as they walked back to the commons room.

"At least we tried." Hound shrugged. "Sorry Tread."

"That stupid little drone," Mirage growled. "Why would Wheeljack make such a rotten little glitch?"

"To be fair, he was just doing his job, it just so happens his job was getting rid of us." Windcharger reasoned. "If only there was a way we could get Wheeljack here, or at least make him think Wheeljack was here." This made Treadsmoke stop in his tracks, a sly grin spread across his face as an idea came to him.

"But fellows," Treadsmoke snapped his digits, his body shifting and melding to become an exact replica of Wheeljack, down to the voice. "Wheeljack's already 'ere." He chuckled. "Observe." He said, turning and walking back towards the lab.

* * *

"Where is is? I know I left it 'ere!" 'Wheeljack' thought out loud as he opened the door to the lab and started looking around.

"Wheeljack! You've returned!" Fixit exclaimed. "Pardon the mess, four mechs were just here, scrounging around, I told them to leave." He said proudly.

"Good work, Fixit." Treadsmoke said, busy looking around, acting as energetic and quirky as he could to really convey he was the real inventor. "Say, Fix, where's the Exo-Suit prototype? I've drawn up some plans for alterations for it and I wanna see if I'll have to completely remold it or if I can just attach them." He explained.

"You put the Exo-Suit prototype in the pass code protected vault in the back wall along with all your other more valuable works." Fixit replied.

"Pass code protected vault. Of course." Treadsmoke said, coming off as if it were a realization. However, What Treadsmoke was thinking was: "Pass code protected vault? I can't believe my dumb luck. _Of course_ it's there." He stepped up to the vault and looked ad the key pad, a five digit pass code, a five digit pass code only Wheeljack, the _real _Wheeljack would know.

"Alright, pass code time." Treadsmoke mumbled, his digit hovering above the key pad.

"You should know it, Wheeljack," Fixit grinned, as if he were somehow onto Treadsmoke. "You said it yourself that it was the easiest pass code you could have set."

"Yeah?" Treadsmoke asked. "Time flies I guess." He shrugged. "Luckily, I know an age old master key tactic." He grinned, firing his blaster at the key pad and destroying it, as he suspected, that dismantled the lock and the door swung open. "I guess the cat's out of the bag now." He shrugged, going back to his regular form and grabbing the Exo-Suit.

"Saboteur!" Fixit remarked. "And now you're stealing one of his inventions! Luckily I have his contact code, I'll alert Wheeljack right away!" He scurried over to a communications console and dialed.

"Hey Fixit, is this Wheeljack's instant immobilizer?" Treadsmoke asked, picking up another invention from behind the door.

"Yes, are you going to steal that too?" Fixit asked as the transmission dialed.

"Nah, just gonna test it out." He said, firing a beam at Fixit and fixing him frozen where he stood. "Take that, wheelie." He snorted a laugh as he walked up to the immobilized minicon. "I'll just be taking this Exo-Suit now." He chuckled.

/Fixit, this better be important, I'm in the middle of my recharge cycle./ Wheeljack's tired voice came through the console, looks like the transmission came through.

/Wheeljack? How you doing buddy?/ Treadsmoke replied, not even bothering to change his voice or form. /Is it okay if I borrow the Exo-Suit?/

/Treadsmoke?/ Wheeljack asked. /Tread, is that you?/

/In the plating. Look, the fact I'm alive is too long a story to tell right now, I'll tell you over a couple viscos sometime./ Treadsmoke replied. /Now, the Exo-Suit? I promise it'll stay in pristine condition... maybe./

/Yeah, well, I suppose... You need the code for the lock?/ Wheeljack asked.

/Nah, thanks though... By the way, you might want to make a Fixit 2.0, your first attempt has a _rotten_ disposition. See ya, Jack-Attack./ Treadsmoke said, ending the transmission. "I should've just dialed him up, saved all the fuss." Treadsmoke muttered as he locked the lab up and returned to the commons room.

"Wanna explain why I just heard laser fire in on the other end of the base?" Thunder Clash crossed his servos and looked down at Treadsmoke.

"You aren't _my _captain yet, Blunder Crash. So no, I don't wanna." Treadsmoke replied. "Here it is fellas, the Exo-Suit." He grinned.

"Fixit give you any trouble?" Hound asked.

"Yeah, you might say he was pretty _stiff _about it." Treadsmoke snorted a laugh. "Oh, that's funny because I used Wheeljack's immobilizer on him." He explained.

"Why'd you take that little thing again?" Thunder Clash asked.

"I'm still not up for answering to you but I'll humor you on this one." Treadsmoke reasoned. "This is for Cadie, my human, this is a restraining suit that will prevent her from ever inflicting any harm an organic can inflict on you." He fabricated his explanation, knowing this would help him establish a fear from the boasting yet cowardly commander.

"You as in one, right?" Thunder Clash asked.

"No, you specifically. She knows me, she already knows my friends enough to like them, but you, you are_ rotten_ in her books." He grinned a bit. "You aren't so hot in mine either, I'll admit." Treadsmoke had this little habit of talking himself into trouble, he did it with nearly everybot, he had done it with Optimus, Ironhide, Prowl, any Decepticon he'd ever encountered, even any old flame he had his big mouth had gotten him into trouble. So why should Thunder Clash be any different? "This little number will keep her from attacking you when we ship out tomorrow, that is until I decide I've had enough and I let her out, she can corrode your plating with that slime you were going on about."

"Well, thank you for considering that factor." Thunder Clash nodded. "I am sure you two will make a good contribution to our squadron, not as good as I, the commander, but still good all the same."

"Well, you're just a nonstop delight, aren't you?" Treadsmoke said sarcastically.

"I've been told that, yes." Thunder Clash nodded, not reading into his sarcasm whatsoever.

"Oi gevalt..." Treadsmoke sighed to himself, knowing he was in for a long trip if this blowhard was coming along. "Alright, it's been a long day, I need a rest." He yawned, grabbing the Exo-Suit and taking it to his room.

* * *

"Treadsmoke?" Was the first word the mech in question woke up to, the voice was coming from outside his door, and it belonged to Cadie.

"C'mon in Cades." Treadsmoke yawned as he sat up in his berth. "Still mad at me?" He asked as she walked in and climbed up onto his berth.

"No..." Cadie shook her head. "Y'know, stages of grief. Now I'm just sad this is gonna be my last day with you." She sighed, leaning up against him.

"In a sense." Treadsmoke nodded.

"C'mon Treads, don't start with that "nobody's ever really gone" stuff." Cadie sighed. "You're going away. We had fun, four years of fun. But all good things come to an end."

"Yep." Treadsmoke nodded. "My time on Earth is coming to a close." He nodded.

"Don't remind me." Cadie looked up sadly at him, but when she looked she could tell he had a big grin on his face. "Oh, you're happy you're going away?" She asked. "At least _pretend _to be upset."

"Cadie," Treadsmoke's smile persisted. "Yeah, I'm going. Yeah, it's gonna be my last day on Earth, but... it's also yours." He grinned.

"What?" Cadie asked, brightening up.

"I had to fight off a sniveling little lab assistant for this, hope you're happy." Treadsmoke pulled the Exo-Suit out from under his berth. "Courtesy of my old friend Wheeljack, a one of a kind Exo-Suit."

"Cool!" Cadie exclaimed, jumping down to look at the suit. "What does it do?"

"I have no idea." Treadsmoke shrugged. "But you put it on and you become a little more likely to survive a space adventure." He explained. "Press that button on the back to open it up." He instructed. She pressed the button and climbed inside the open suit. Once it was all sealed up she fell to her hands and knees as the suit linked up with her person, all of a sudden weighing down on her.

"Oh. I have to figure out how to walk all over again. Super." Cadie droned as she struggled to stand.

"You just gotta think about what you wanna do before you do it." Treadsmoke assured her, bear in mind he had no idea how this thing worked so he was completely talking out of his tailpipe. Eventually she did get a handle on walking. She mastered it in a little under an hour.

"I can't wait until the lack of gravity in space comes into play." Treadsmoke laughed as he and Cadie walked down the hall. "I'm pretty sure this thing is equipped with weapons too." He stated.

"How do you know?" Cadie asked.

"Wheeljack built it. He armed the base's _floor_ _waxer_ to the teeth." Treadsmoke informed her. "Chances are that thing has loads of gadgets and gizmos in it." He told her as they made their way into the commons room. "Well fellas, are we ready to head out?" He asked.

"You know it." Trailbreaker nodded as he and Mirage hauled crates to Thunder Clash's ship.

"Think you wanna stop by a market or something? Get provisions for Cadie?" Hound asked.

"Maybe a few non perishables." Treadsmoke nodded. "I'm just gonna fill a drum up with water and bring it on the ship. The SS Supercomet is a TFP-11 Jackhammer model, those come equipped with a hydromatter converter. And maybe another drum of water for, well, drinking."

"Uncle Hound is just looking to lend a servo where he can." Hound winked, grabbing to large plastic drums and giving them to Treadsmoke. "Go fill these with the water from the freshwater lake a couple kliks east. _Not _the quarry." He instructed.

"Yes sir, _Uncle Hound_." Treadsmoke rolled his optics at his friend's playful jab.

"Uncle Hound?" Cadie asked as they left the base to walk to the nearby lake.

"It's nothing Cades, Hound is just a bit of a tool now and then." Treadsmoke replied. "Like I'd really get water from the quarry." He scoffed.

"Your first experience with deep frying you used _motor _oil. I can't say Hound is out of line on this one." Cadie nudged him playfully.

"I thought that motor oil friend chicken was good." Treadsmoke defended his cooking.

* * *

"WHEELJA-" Fixit yelped as he suddenly came to from his immobilization. "What in the name of..." He rubbed his aching helm. "He got away with the Exo-Suit!" Fixt exclaimed, moving immediately for the door, which had been locked from the outside. "I never liked that feature." Fixit growled to himself. His left claw ducked inside his arm and was replaced with a blowtorch, one of many tools he had stored within for maintenance work. He worked along the door, and eventually was able to create a Fixit sized hole in it.

"Hm, my sensors indicate six signs of Cybertronian life within the kilometer radius, that means the Exo-Suit is still mine for the returning!" He deduced, wheels squealing as he took off toward the signals. Those signals were currently inside the SS Supercomet, moments from taking off.

"That _thing _isn't going to be too much of a nuisance, will it?" Thunder Clash asked, looking at Cadie, who was currently sitting on the dashboard of the ship near where Treadsmoke sat.

"She certainly won't be the biggest nuisance on the ship." Treadsmoke replied smugly.

"Mm, that Mirage fellow probably will, I read up on him, he's a shifty character." Thunder Clash said, oblivious to the fact Treadsmoke was referring to him.

"I thought Optimus told Cliffjumper to destroy those reports..." Mirage growled to himself. "Trailbreaker, did you close the ramp behind you?" He asked.

"I think I did." Trailbreaker replied. No he didn't.

"Thinking you did and knowing you did are two very different things." Mirage grumbled as he got up and walked towards the airlock to close the ramp, he pulled the switch and the ramp closed shut. "There, now we _are _ready to launch." He remarked, walking back towards the hull where everyone else was, well, _almost _everyone.

"This has been a most unpleasant development." Fixit remarked from where he hid now that he was alone in the cargo bay and effectively trapped inside a ship going Primus knows where. The developments only got worse for Fixit, just as he finished speaking, the ship took to flight.

"Oh, terrific." Fixit droned.

* * *

_Ever see Lilo and Stitch? Pretend Fixit is played by Kevin McDonald, who portrayed Agent Pleakley. _


End file.
